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"To be a part of a program so rich in tradition as that, it's huge," said Clark, 43, a Leto graduate who coached at USF for the 2006 season. "It's a great opportunity for me."

Clark is reunited with Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who was defensive coordinator at Miami when he played linebacker there in the late 1980s. Since his year at USF, Clark spent two seasons as defensive line coach at Florida International before going to Hampton last summer.

Clark doesn't know his exact recruiting territory yet, but he'll use his state ties to help recruit Florida for the Panthers, especially the Tampa and Miami areas. As we reported last week, Pittsburgh was the only Big East school not to sign a player from Florida. Clark replaces Joe Tumpkin, who left to become defensive coordinator at Central Michigan.

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South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Joey Knight, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area. Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.